(late)UPDATE: 12/5/20
Matthew has recieved a conditional and partial pardon from Governor Northam. He "is expected to be released sometime in early 2021... He’s been incarcerated since the night of the accident, which occurred Jan. 4, 2019" according to the Virginian-Pilot. The pardon reduces his sentence, but does not wipe out his conviction. "Rushin will be on supervised probation for five years and must get mental health treatment, counseling and a substance abuse evaluation," (VP).
This is not an absolute pardon and he is still not free. I was so happy and hopeful when I heard he was pardoned and going home. After reading the articles below, I am still glad things are happening but... the amount of people, signatures, letters, laywers, time, money, hastags were needed to get this far terrifies me because a. it's still not enough and b. there are so many people who never get attention. Sources:
Content warning for the video below: it describes the night of the accident and what followed in detail, it is powerful and explains the situation well, which is what makes it really hard to watch. “URGENT: Matthew Rushin is in Prison for Being Black and Autistic,” Terravance (Nueroclastic).
This article is part one of a growing series about the unjust imprisonment of a 19-year-old black autistic man. The author explains what happened, what the cops claimed happened, and what should have happened. Yes, it is all on tape. She provides information about autism that will ensure you understand how horrible this was. No one should have to go through what he did, but for him, I can only imagine how the pain was ten times worse.
Matthew was in a car accident, both him and the other driver got hurt, but no one died and no one pressed charges. Even against the overwhelming, clear evidence that it was an accident, he was sentenced to 50 years, 40 suspended, for 2nd-degree manslaughter. He has been in prison for over a year without ever getting the medical help he desperately needs for the brain injury he suffered in the accident. And that’s the least of it. He was a mechanical engineering student at Old Dominion University with a bright future. He had ADHD, PTSD from a previous car accident that almost killed him, and anxiety on top of a severe traumatic brain injury. He was criminalized because of his skin color and taken advantage of because of his disability. I have so much more to say about this… but I can’t. I don’t know where to start. For now, I want to share his story and asking that you sign this petition, “Free Matthew Rushin (Autistic College Student @ ODU),” on Change.org. If you want to donate to help him, do so to his family’s fund for his legal defense team on GoFundMe and NOT on Change.org (profits do not go to the family). Share his story on social media if you can. I’ve also been writing to every media/government source I find with incorrect information. He deserves a pardon from the governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam. I plan to write to him, as well. I cried for him. I prayed for him. It is time to speak up for him and help him get free. Related articles
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The first thing she said that really blew my mind was that there are seven things that make up someone’s biological sex. I knew gender was a spectrum, but I have no idea that sex was, too. I was taught that it was the simplest thing out there. Female and male. Boom, end of conversation. Biological Sex (2:23-2:49)
Important: sex ≠ gender
I started writing this blog post a while ago, planning to talk about gender dysphoria, until I realized Emily needed her own spotlight. She is an exceptional speaker doing important work. The myth that sex = gender is extremely harmful, especially to transgender people who know that’s not true. I hope this made you think. Further Research"Sex, Gender, and Why the Differences Matter," Jennifer Tseng (AMA Journal of Ethics) investigates how sex and gender influence doctors and patients on every level.
"Of mice, men and women: Making research more inclusive," Krista Conger (Stanford Medicine) follows a study trying to learn how a person's sex and gender influence their health and reaction to treatment. Fascinating. "Sex and Gender Identity," Planned Parenthood. Quoted above. Alice Paul introduced the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) at the 75th Seneca Fall Convention in 1923. It became known as the “Lucretia Mott Amendment.” In 1943, Paul changed the wording “to better reflect the language in both the 15th and the 19th Amendments.” From then on, it has been known as the “Alice Paul Amendment,” and has been reintroduced to Congress every year since. It was big in the 70s, then quieted down, but has not gone away. 97 years later, the amendment has finally been ratified by 38 states. It’s true! This month, with Virginia’s (late, but appreciated help), the ¾’s majority needed to add an amendment to the Constitution has been met. This doesn’t mean the fight is over. Congress and will probably face many legal battles in the future (Virginia ratifies ERA setting up likely legal battle). It's not over, but we are so close. For more try: “With Virginia Ratification, where does the Equal Rights Amendment go from here?” The Alice Paul Institute has a magnificent website all about the ERA. If you want to know more about the history of the ERA or the legal process of any amendment, it is the perfect resource. It answered all of my questions and calmed all of my doubts. EqualRightsAmendment.org. For instance, I learned that the ERA would not automatically change laws concerning the reproductive rights of women, that will still mostly be up to the states. However, it may affect future decisions, especially ones made by the Supreme Court (to expand reproductive rights, in theory). I’ll just say it: this would not mean women will be added to the draft. First of all, the draft will likely never come into effect again. Secondly, the government has already considered drafting women in past wars, therefore, it is already possible, yet not being done. I think the most important FAQ is: “Would the ERA adversely affect existing benefits and protections that women now receive (e.g., alimony, child custody, Social Security payments, etc.)?” In an opinion piece from The Hill, “Equal Rights Amendment will replace equality with sameness” Inez Stepman claims that the ERA will hurt women. She writes that the amendment will “add nothing to the equality under the law women already enjoy in America” (para. 5), stating that men and women have equal rights on state and federal levels. I think there is evidence that that is not the case, but that’s for another post. More interestingly, she shares her belief that the ERA will make men “interchangeable” with women and that “sameness” will ultimately hurt women. Instead, the ERA will replace this equality under the law with the enforced interchangeability between men and women. While men and women are indeed equal, both common sense and science tell us they are not precisely the same. There are still some situations in which treating men and women precisely alike could harm women or even put them in danger. I agree that it is important to recognize the necessary differences in support men and women should recieve. Unfortunately, women still need protection in this world that men do not (often protections from men). Her example of women-only prisons is a good one; however, some of her possibilities are way off base, things that would simply not be effected solely by this amendment. I believe it is fear-mongering. I mean, “daughters could be forced into a combat draft alongside sons,” really? It leads me to question her objective in the piece. Family law occurs on the state level, for the most part, and are becoming more gender-neutral and beginning to stop making judgments based on stereotypes of men and women already. The ERA will likely not stop this progress. (And that isn’t a bad thing). ERA.org and many supporters of the amendment, claim that it will not hurt women this way, at all. Whatever state and even federal protections exist for women, are vulnerable to being destroyed if not protected by the Constitution. The ERA is necessary to guarantee all women in America equal rights to men. Now, ready to hear the big, scary amendment? “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Sounds good to me. The Vox video starts out pretty intense, but I think it is worth watching. And like all of life, it gets better. There are people are doing good work in our government. It can be hard to see through the storm of hate and curruption, but it's there. Hope and love and strength is there. A million seconds is about 11 days. A billion seconds is more than 32 years. It’s easy to forget just how different a million dollars and a billion dollars are. When people talk about getting rid of billionaires, they are not flippantly hating on the rich. They are talking about a handful of people who have more money (and therefore power) than any one person should have. More money than they can spend in their lifetime. What could they ever buy that worth more than their humanity? Because they are activly choosing to not help people when they have the resources to. There’s no such thing as a “self-made billionaire.” Whether or not they start with a fortune, none of them make it there without stepping on and hurting countless other people. Bezos (Amazon; net worth of $109.7 billion) is one of the grossest examples, in my opinion. Workers are being traumatized and over-worked in Amazon warehouses Bezos didn’t acquire his money alone (sources at bottom of post).
Try this article about it: Here’s how much America’s billionaires give to charity, in one chart - Dylan Matthews (Vox). Our capitalistic economy and the laws that shape it allow billionaires to exist. I think they should pay taxes. Everyone hates paying taxes, but they are the reason we have schools and roads and safe drinking water. They serve a critical purpose. Wouldn’t billionaire’s be paying their proportion? They can pay so much more because they have so much more. If they can’t afford to pay taxes, maybe they should be more careful with their money. You know, learn to budget. Elon Musk (Telsa and Paypal and more; net worth of $22.8 billion) could do so much good, instead, he spent billions sending this car into space for fun. Amazon, a company worth more than a trillion dollars (Money.com qtd. Forbes), paid $0 in federal taxes in 2018 and 2019. Other taxes such as state taxes and income tax were paid (Why doesn’t Amazon pay corporate tax? Read more: Forbes). You might have heard that Bezos recently paid $98.5 to help the homeless. Let’s break this down before we get too happy about it...
There's always strings, but when it comes to donations, they can be less than helpful. Homeless Services Network will need to manage the stock over the next five years to maximize its value. It was not immediately clear if there is a limit on how much of the gift can be cashed in each year. (Orlando Sentienal) I’m all for taxes. I mean, I’m not excited to have to pay them and I know they are often mismanaged. But, there are people who depend on government assistance. We all do. I believe everyone deserves food, shelter, water, and safety. There is not a lacking in the amount of resources in this country or in the world. The corrupt distribution of our resources is the problem. This isn’t a complete summary of the problem or and end to my commentary on it, but it’s a start. Thanks for reading. When we say ‘tax the rich,’ we mean nesting-doll yacht rich. For-profit prison rich. Betsy DeVos, student-loan shark rich. Trick-the-country-into-war rich. Subsidizing-workforce-food-stamps rich. Because THAT kind of rich is simply not good for society, and it’s like ten people. - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez |
| The video about how to survive a school shooting should have felt jarringly out of place in a list of mundane, routine announcements. Content warning: no blood, it is not graphic, but it is still a reenactment. |
“As of September 1, which was the 244th day of the year, there have been 283 mass shootings in the U.S., according to data from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive (GVA), which tracks every mass shooting in the country. The GVA defines a mass shooting as any incident in which at least four people were shot, excluding the shooter.”
| |
In the 1980s, Congress organized a commission to look into the reasons why the Japanese internment happened. I did testify at those hearings. They found three things brought it about: One was racial hysteria, one was war hysteria, and the third was failure of political leadership. And Donald Trump is a perfect example of that failure. It was because political leadership could not educate the hysteria that was sweeping across this country. ‘Get rid of the Japs’ was the most popular political issue at the time. And they didn’t recognize the fact that two-thirds of us were American citizens. They thought that we had an organic, genetic loyalty to the emperor, so we were all imprisoned with no charges. It was the most unconstitutional act and President Reagan apologized for that and pledged a $20,000 redress. What Donald Trump is talking about is going to make his logo, ‘America disgraced again.’ It’s all over again. We don’t know our history.
I wrote a letter to the girl. A short card, saying how strong she is. I made this aesthetic board (left) with the colors of the trans* flag. It's easy to get lost in the big issues and feel like you are helpless. I wanted to be a supporter, however brief, to this girl. These big issues hurt people. Maybe you can only touch a single kid. But, to them and their loved ones, they an entire universe. We all are. I'm reminded of a quote by Richard Price, which I saw in context of writing, but I think it fits here, as well. |
The bigger the issue, the smaller you write. Remember that. You don't write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid's burnt socks lying on the road. You pick the smallest manageable part of the big think, and you work off the resonance.
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